NEW ORLEANS — In the end, after the ball sailed through the uprights, Aaron Donald, the Rams’ star defensive tackle, said, “It was surreal.’’

Yes it was, for the triumphant Rams, and also for the stunned, disgusted Saints.

The Rams are headed to the Super Bowl with a resilient, gritty come-from-behind 26-23 overtime victory Sunday in a riveting NFC Championship game inside the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

The way the Rams got there, though, was in large part ushered in by one of the worst non-calls in NFL playoff history, a shameful swallowed whistle near the end of regulation that will scar the league now and for years to come.

At least the NFL will not defend this terrible moment, as Al Riverton, the NFL’s senior vice president of officiating, admitted the error in a phone conversation with Saints coach Sean Payton.

“Just getting off the phone with the league office,’’ Payton said not long after the game. “It was simple. They blew the call. It should never have not been a call. They said not only was it interference, it was helmet-to-helmet.’’

Greg Zuerlein’s titanic 57-yard field goal 3:17 into OT delivered the decisive points for the Rams, a mammoth line-drive boot that split the uprights right down the middle and easily sailed over the crossbar. That kick will never be forgotten by Rams fans, but the play that got these teams into the extra period will forever be viewed with disdain anywhere in the vicinity of what now must be called the Big Uneasy.

With the game tied at 20, Drew Brees put the ball on the money and Tedd Ginn Jr. leaped in front of safety Lamarcus Joyner for a 43-yard reception to the Rams’ 13-yard line.

The Saints got no further and got shafted when a Brees third-down pass intended for Tommylee Lewis fell incomplete on the right sideline as cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman slammed into Lewis as the ball whizzed on by. It looked like a textbook pass interference penalty. Plus, Robey-Coleman’s helmet made contact with Lewis’ helmet. Incredibly, there was no call and with 1:41 remaining in regulation, amid deafening boos from the Saints fans, Will Lutz kicked a 31-yard field goal for a 23-20 Saints lead.

“I don’t know if there was ever a more obvious pass interference call,’’ Payton said.

It was so egregious that it was not even controversial. Both sides agreed justice was not served.

“Yes, I got there too early,’’ said Robey-Coleman, admitting he should have been flagged. “I was beat and I was trying to save the touchdown.”

Rams coach Sean McVay reacts after his Rams prevailed.EPA

Referee Bill Vinovich after the game told a pool reporter “It was a judgment call by the covering official’’ and added “I personally have not seen the play.’’

There is no guarantee the Saints would have punched the ball into the end zone if a penalty were called and they retained possession inside the 5-yard line. At the very least, they could have drained the clock, kicked a chip-shot field goal and the Rams would have had less than 30 seconds to work with, rather than the 1:41 they were handed.

“It’s a game-changing call,’’ Payton said. “For that call not to be made, man, it’s just hard to swallow and then to get a phone call.’’

Jared Goff, the 24-year old quarterback who seemed to grow by the minute, calmly got the Rams in position for Zuerlein to drill a 48-yard field goal with 15 seconds left in regulation.

Goff finished 25-of-40 for 297 yards, one touchdown pass and one interception.

“I have never coached in an atmosphere like that, ever,’’ said Sean McVay, the Rams’ 32-year old wunderkind head coach.

In overtime, Brees was hit as he was throwing by linebacker Dante Fowler, resulting in a flutter-ball that was intercepted by safety John Johnson as he fell backwards to the ground at the Rams’ 46-yard line. Goff completed a 12-yard pass to Tyler Higbee to cross midfield and moments later, the Rams had their winning points and the NFL had a problem on its hand with the non-call that marred the outcome.

A bitter Saints coach Sean Payton after the loss.AP

“Without going into bashing the referee, because I don’t know what he saw, maybe he doesn’t know what he saw, maybe the lights were too bright for him to see,’’ Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan said. “You have to put it on the defense. We had a chance to get out of there and get them out of field-goal range in overtime.’’

After becoming the first team to ever knock off Brees and coach Sean Payton on the road in the postseason — that Saints duo had been 6-0 inside the Superdome in the playoffs — what can’t the Rams do? The Rams (15-3) head to Atlanta for Super Bowl LIII having eliminated the No. 1 seed in the NFC and nothing that comes next should intimidate them in the least.

This is the first time in 17 years the Rams are in the Super Bowl and they are after the second Lombardi Trophy in franchise history. They won it after the 1999 season with Kurt Warner and the Greatest Show on Turf team but were beaten two years later in the game that started the Tom Brady/Bill Belichick dynasty run.

To keep playing, the Rams had to overcome a 13-0 first-quarter deficit and the ear-splitting environment that makes life miserable for so many road teams. At times, Goff and the Rams appeared ready to wobble and fall, but they never did.

The end was wild and tense, unforgettable for the Rams for what they achieved and unforgettable for the Saints for what they believed they were robbed of accomplishing.

“Our team played, well, well enough to win the game,’’ Payton said. “We should have.’’